Thuy Trang Nguyen - NTNU

I am working as a PhD Candidate in the SellSTEM - Spatially Enhanced Learning Linked to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths)- project. With Mila Vulchanova and Valentin Vulchanov as supervisors, I will be researching the (potential) gender gap in spatial abilities in children and how spatial language correlates with the development of different aspects of spatial abilities. It has been shown that both are predictive for later academic grades in mathematics and science fields.

My project will be investigating spatial abilities in young, pre-school children (3 to 6 years old). The goal is to identify if and when a gender gap is apparent in different facets of spatial abilities and which inherent (e.g., attention) and environmental factors (e.g., spatial language use) might influence the development of spatial abilites.

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Current projects

Online survey

I am validating a questionnaire on childhood activities in Norway.

If you are interested, please fill out the survey in Norwegian or in English. You will have the chance to win 1 out of 10 giftcards for 180 NOK by the end of the data collection.

Thank you for participating!

In person testing

We are looking for young children to participate in our study!

We will be testing in different kindergartens in Trondheim (among others, sit Dragvoll, Sluppen barnehage, Barnehage Dronning Mauds Minne) or will be inviting you and your child to come to the language acquisition lab at NTNU Dragvoll.

With a playful set up, the children will be assessed on their language and spatial cognition skills while their guardians fill out a short questionnaire. The children will play 11 different games under the guidance of a trained researcher and are allowed to take as many breaks as they need. So far all, the children we have tested had a lot of fun during the testing.

A session at the lab will take between 1 to 2 hours, depending on the needs and comfort of the child. Every participant and their guardian receives a gift card of NOK 180 as compensation for helping.

If you want to help us, sign up here or e-mail me directly to set up an appointment.

We are looking forward to see you at the Language Lab at NTNU Dragvoll!